4th car in three years....

Well, if you live in Japan long enough, expect to go through several cars. I have learned that cars almost always fail the mandatory base inspection. Ninety-five percent of the time, it's less costly to purchase a new car than it is to repair the old one.

John's car recently went through the base inspection (required every two years). The repairs would have totaled more than the car was worth. They wanted $2800 for repairs (very small windshield ding (they wanted the whole windshield replaced), they wanted to replace all the brakes and rotors, and the lights on the side of the car). Nearly three thousand dollars is almost as much as we paid for the car. There's no way we were going to pay that price for repairs.

By sheer luck, one of John's coworkers was moving and he asked if she had sold her car. She agreed to sale the car to us for $500. The car does not need inspection until after we leave Japan. With the new insurance, registration fees, and the car purchase we ended up spending about $800 for everything....well under the quoted cost of the repairs.

So, if anyone is keeping track (I know I am) that's four cars in three years we've purchased. That's insane! I was telling my story to some friends and they all agree it's pretty normal for Japan.

I guess I don't have any advice in this post. I have resigned myself to the fact that car turnover here is much more frequent than in the US.